A branch fell off the tree!

Friday, December 19th, near the end of the day, Teri calls to tell me a big branch fell off the tree in the backyard, and the dogs can go out the back door. I figured it was another of those tree branches I’d have to put under my arm and put my back into to pull it away from the house until I had the time to cut it up. What was the big deal? A week earlier we’d had a tree guy in to cut down several trees and to trim the tree that the branch fell off.

It’s December and I got home after dark. My first hint of what awaited me was looking into the black of the backyard, I saw a tree, where there wasn’t one. I don’t think I had to push through the side gate near the garage, but beyond that I encountered a forest blocking me from going much further. I pulled out the chainsaw

that hadn't been started since some pine trees fell down on the other side of my fence a few years ago. I’d even forgotten how to start it. I wasn’t confident it’d start. Through some miracle it started. I cut my way toward the back steps. I paused long enough to stop and talk to Teri about what was needed in the backyard. She said she wasn’t home when it happened, and Cassie is suffering from PTSD from her car accident and is scared. Both dogs literally got the crap scared out of them when the tree came down.

The branch covered the yard from the pool to the deck at the back door. The new tree I saw from the road was a branch off the main branch: it stood over the mud room, almost to the second floor window. I rough cut the wood with the idea of clearing the branches and getting most of the yard back as

soon as possible. I called my tree guy to let him know what had happened, and asked him to call me back to take down the part of the branch hanging over the mud room, and near the back of the house. A few years ago I’d have taken the branch apart myself, but my wife insists I need to realize I’m older, and I brake easier. If the tree guy hadn’t returned my call on Saturday, I’d have cut the tree branch up. I ran out of chain oil, and couldn't find the container, so I stopped. The tree guy showed up Saturday, which is good, because the chain saw didn’t want to start and I was reduced to an electric demo saw and smaller branches. The tree guy said sometimes after a cut like he did last week, the wind is less blocked and exposes weak spots in other trees. I didn’t care one way or the other. I was glad it didn’t kill anyone, and the hit to the house was mostly minor.